by Carolyn Burge

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Category Archives: Safety & Procedures

On a recent visit to Woodstock City Church, I noticed their signs. There were 2 things that I noticed. I noticed what signs they had displayed, and what signs they didn’t have displayed.

Let’s start with the signs they didn’t have up. They didn’t have any printed or hand written signs on their walls or doors. There were no signs advertising upcoming events or displaying messages. This made their space clean, and clutter free. It also meant that any signs that were displayed were noticed because they looked professional, clear and to the point. Here were some signs that they did have on their walls:

This sign was just on the inside of the room beside the door. It prompted volunteers to ask important questions when kids arrived.

This sign clearly outlined how the program was supposed to run and what time each section started and ended for each service.

This sign was for training new volunteers. This made sure that everything was covered so that new volunteers knew the policies and procedures while volunteering in that room.

This sign clearly communicated the bathroom policy and was posted beside the restroom door in every kids room. Here are a few more signs that were posted in their kids rooms.

What signs do you have in your kids rooms? Are there any signs you need to remove so that more attention can be given to signs that are important? Are there any signs that you could include that you do not currently have posted? Hopefully, these ideas will help you be more intentional with the signs you post in your kids rooms.

When people sign up to volunteer in our Kids Rooms, we want to equip them with all the info they need to get started, and do their job well. It can be a little overwhelming for a new volunteer to try to remember everything, so we created some booklets for each room that give them the basics to get started. This one page (double sided) document gives them some basic info that they can take home with them, and they can refer to. We also have another volunteer training booklet that we give to all volunteers that covers our vision & our goals as well as our safety training, but these room booklets are specific to each room and outline things that volunteers will need to know while serving in that room. You can download a copy of each of these booklets:

When people sign up to volunteer in Kids Ministry, we have a lot of stuff and info that we give them to get started. To help simplify the process, we put together a gift bag for them. Here’s what’s in the bag:

A Booklet that is specific to their ministry area. It gives them basic ‘need to know’ info so that they can get started.

Every year we have a volunteer training event in September. We review the safety stuff as well as the vision and values. It’s a chance for new volunteers to learn the basics and returning volunteers to be reminded about why we do what we do.

Volunteer Training Manuals can be boring to read. We decided it was important to work on making it look interesting so that it was easy to read. Here is the link to our Volunteer Training Book. You can download a copy and use it as a sample to create your own volunteer training book.

Food Allergies are common in children. Kids Ministry should be a place where kids are safe & details such as food allergies are important. When I was at Crossroads Church they told me about their system when it comes to Food Allergies.

Parents are responsible to put an Allergy Sticker on their child each week. Stickers are available at every check-in station. Parents simply write the allergy on the sticker, and put it on their child. They use round stickers that have red printing on them, so that it stands out from their name tag.

Does your church have a clear plan for emergencies? Crossroads Church does. In fact, it’s so clear, that they have a Safety Manual displayed in each Kids Room. Each Manual is custom made with instructions for that specific room. The staff was kind enough to give me permission to share their Safety Manual on my blog with pictures for everyone to see. Hopefully it will inspire you to make a plan for emergencies that is clear for your volunteers.